Roof ventilator



Feb. 2, 1960 c, MASSEY 2,923,225

ROOF VENTILATOR Filed July 1, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR CHARLES E. MASSEY M W #WMZM/ ATTORNEY6 Feb. 2, 1960 c. E. MASSEY ROOF VENTILATOR Filed July 1, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CHARLES E. MA sssr ATTORNEYS United States Patent ROOF VENTILATOR Charles E. Massey, Federalsburg, Md.

Application July 1, 1958, Serial No. 745,945

1 Claim. (CI. 9842) This invention relates broadly to buildings such as broiler houses, tobacco barns and the like and provides a new and improved ventilator for such buildings.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a ventilator of improved but simplified construction, having a minimum number of parts, which is so constructed that it provides a maximum air flow from the building to be ventilated, and which may be easily and quickly adjusted to vary the air flow in any desired amount and within very exact limits.

The invention is described in the following specification and is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a ventilator according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2 showing particularly the pivotal support for the damper;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the invention, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4.

One embodiment of the ventilator provided by my invention is disclosed in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings and comprises an elongated, hollow structure preferably formed of sheet metal, having spaced, parallel side walls 2, 4 and spaced, parallel end walls 6, 8. The ventilator is open at the bottom and the side and end walls are turned outwardly at their lower ends to provide side flanges and end flanges 12 by means of which the ventilator may be mounted on and secured to the ridge of the roof 14 of a building with the interior of the ventilator open to the interior of the building through an aperture 16 in the roof.

The ventilator structure extends upwardly from the ridge of the roof and the end walls 6, 8 extend upwardly higher than the side walls 2, 4 and, at their upper ends, support downwardly and outwardly diverging top or cover members 20, 22 which terminate at their lower ends above and outwardly of the upper edges of the side walls 2, 4 whereby the top members 20, 22 overhang the side walls. Because of the elevation of the top 20, 22 above the side walls, an opening is left between each top member and the upper edge of the side wall on the same side of the ventilator, and these openings 24, 26 are covered by screens 28, 30, respectively. It will be seen that these screens and the openings which they cover converge downwardly from the lower or outer edges of the top members 20, 22 to the upper edges of the side walls 2, 4 and are therefore beneath, and protected by, the top members 20, 22 of the ventilator. The upper parts of the end walls 6, 8 are suitably shaped to conform to this construction. If desired, the screens 28, 30 may be removable in order that they may be easily and quickly cleaned.

Means are provided by the invention for controlling and adjusting the flow of air through the ventilator from the interior of the building. Such means comprise a damper or valve 30, the same being a generally flat piece of sheet metal which is pivotally mounted at 31 within the ventilator on the end walls 6, 8 on pivots positioned approximately midway between the side walls 2, 4. The damper is of such size that it extends from end wall to end wall and from side wall to side wall so that in its. closed position, which is shown in full lines in Fig. 2, it completely closes the opening through the ventilator. Along its side edges the damper is provided with angularly displaced side edge parts 32, 34. Stop members 36, 38 are mounted on the inner surfaces of the side walls 2, 4 approximately at the level of the pivotal support for the damper and are so positioned that when the damper engages them it is held in closed position, shutting off the passage of air through the ventilator. Additional stop members are mounted on the inner surfaces of the end wall 6, 8 midway between the side walls 2, 4 and pro! vide a stop for the damper when it is in its open position. One of these open position stops is shown at 40 in Fig. 2. A rope or chain 42 is connected at its ends to the lower side of the damper on opposite sides of,

the pivotal support 31 and providesa means for operating the damper to open, and closed and intermediate posi-.

tions. As shown' in Fig. 3, the pivotal support 31 at each, end of the damper is provided by a pin 50 which is connected to the damper by straps 52 and which is positioned on the longitudinal center line of the damper and the end of which extends beyond the end edge of the damper to be received within a flared opening 54 in the end wall 6 of the ventilator housing.

A second embodiment of the invention is disclosed in 1'. Figs. 4 and 5 and differs from the first embodiment in one of two respects, in the shape and configuration of the side walls of the ventilator. In this embodiment of the invention the upper parts of the two side walls are substantially parallel as shown at 50, 52, and the lower parts are flared outwardly and downwardly as shown at 54, 56, providing an enlarged, upwardly converging passage at the lowermost part of the ventilator which has the effect of reducing the friction which the ventilator ofiers to the passage of air, thus increasing the efliciency of the ventilator.

Means are provided by the invention for constantly urging the damper 30 to open position, and other means are provided for holding the damper in closed position and in any intermediate position between its fully open and closed positions, and these means are disclosed in Fig. 5 of the drawings. A weight 60 is mounted on the upper surface of the damper and is displaced from the pivotal support thereof in such a direction that it constantly tends to rotate the damper about its pivotal support to its fully open position. The means for holding the damper in closed and intermediate positions comprises a plurality of enlarged parts or devices, such as the knots 70, which are spaced along that part 72 of the rope on the opposite side of the pivotal support for the damper from the weight 60. A member 74 having an inwardly facing V-shaped notch is mounted on the inner surface of the side wall of the ventilator adjacent the part 72 of the rope which has the enlarged parts or knots 70. It will be apparent that the rope part 72 may be trained through the V-shaped notch in member 74 and may be manipulated to bring any one of the knots under the small end of the notch in order to hold the damper in any desired position.

In the use and operation of a ventilator provided by this invention, the ventilator will be installed on the ridge roof of a broiler house, barn or the like and the flanges on the lower ends of the side and end walls will be attached to the roof to provide a permanent but removable installation. In this position, the operating rope ventilator and through the registering opening 16 in the 42 will hang down through the open lower end of the roof to a position at which its lower end may be manually operated toadjust the damper '30. The damper may be moved from a position in which its side edges engage the closed stops 36, 38 to completely shut off the passage of air through the ventilator, and may also be moved to a fully opened position in which it engages the open stops, such as stop 40. The flaredopenings 5.4 in the end walls may be made of such small size that they tightly engage the pivot pins 50 so that the damper may be held in any intermediate position by the fric tional engagement of the pivot pins with the walls of the flared openings. The shape of the'side walls of the ventilator-reduce the frictional resistance to the flow of air and therefore cause an increase in the-flow of air from the interior of thebuilding upwardly through the ventilator. If the damper operating and holding means of Fig-5 areused, the weight 60 will constantly urge the damper to fully open position and the rope part 72 may be manipulated to bring any one of the knots 70 under the small end of the V-shaped notch in member 74 in order to hold the damper in any desired position.

What is claimed is:

A ventilator for attachment to the roof of a building above an opening therein, comprisinga lower part of rectangular cross sectional shape having side walls and end walls, said side walls having upper parts which are substantially parallel and lower parts which diverge outwardly and downwardly, said end walls having integral upper parts which extend above the upper edges of the side Walls, the upper parts of said end walls having upwardly divergent and then upwardly convergent edges above the upper edges of the side walls, a cover for the ventilator supported on the upwardly convergent edges of the end walls, said cover having lower edges which are spaced outwardly of the side walls and above the upper edges thereof thereby providing downwardly converging openings above the side walls extending along the sides of the ventilator from end to end of the ventilator and beneath the cover, a single substantially flat damper plate pivotally mounted along its longitudinal center line on the end walls within the ventilator on pivots positioned substantially below the lower edges of the downwardly converging openings and being of such size that it extends from side wall to side wall and from end wall to end wall, at least onestop means mounted on the inner surface of a side wall and positioned to be engaged by the damper plate when in a horizontal position closing the ventilator, at least one other stop means mounted on the inner surface of an end wall and positioned to be engaged by the damper plate when in a vertical position in which the ventilator is fully opened, means for operating the damper, a weight mounted on the damper plate adjacent one edge thereof and constantly urging the damper plate to its vertical position in which the ventilator is fully opened and means disposed within the confines of the ventilator for holding the damper in its fully closed position and in positions between its opened and fully closed positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,509,848 Silver Sept. 30, 1924 1,654,855 Bastien Jan. 3, 1928 2,626,556 Davies Ian. 27, 1953 2,685,247 Bell Aug. 3, 1954 2,704,500 Bonforte Mar. 22, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 482,121 Great Britain Mar. 23, 1938 579,572 Great Britain Aug. 8, 1946 

